What's Critical to Know about AI

Catalog description

This interdisciplinary course analyzes 'artificial intelligence' as both a powerful tool and a subject of live inquiry. Our interactive course will not only engage these technologies in real-world real-time applied environments but also examine many of the urgent sociotechnical implications and evolving impact of AI. The aim of the course is to provide you with some important technical literacy as well as essential grounding in the broader cultural, social and political questions of the day related to AI. Going beyond the news headlines, beyond generic approaches to ethics, and beyond the hype and doom, we will examine research and use-cases on AI and privacy; surveillance; mental health; disability; medicine; higher education; the arts, humanities, and creative industries; impacts on environment and human labor; in-depth look at bias-mitigation and equity issues; and AI policies around the globe, including the African continent, among other subjects. Open to all students, the expansive topics and hands-on activities are designed to more fully support your education, your career, and your role in society as an informed citizen. Fieldtrips may include the AI Tinkery, the Robotics Lab, CESTA, the Center for Teaching & Learning and the AI Mis-Alignment Museum among others. Our class also includes a special public lecture series with AI experts, thanks to support from the Office of the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education. Invited speakers from Stanford faculty and alumni, industry, philanthropy, public policy, investigative journalism, the arts, and civil society.